STRASBOURG — The European Parliament suspended payment of some €90,000 to a think tank linked to Nigel Farage's UKIP because of suspicions that it obtained donations via improper means, according to a document obtained by POLITICO.

In the latest of a series of financial setbacks to hit Euroskeptic parties and associated bodies over allegations of misuse of public funds, the UKIP-linked Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe (IDDE) could be deprived of €88,924.58 in funding due to the suspension approved by Parliament's leaders.

Last month, the Parliament sought to recover €173,000 in funding from the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE) group of MEPs, of which UKIP is the dominant member, and suspended payment of €501,000 in grants. The Parliament has also sought to recover €339,000 from Marine Le Pen, leader of France's National Front.

Several other MEPs, including Marine Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie, three others in the National Front and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, have also faced requests to reimburse money to parliament. Le Pen’s lawyer said she would appeal the reimbursement order, and that he expected parliament to move to recover funds by docking her pay and expenses, as it did in the case of her father.

This clawback of European Parliament cash by President Martin Schulz and Manfred Weber, leader of the center-right European People’s Party, is the first crackdown against populist groups that use Parliament money to fund Euroskeptic causes.

The Parliament has also sought to recover €339,000 from Marine Le Pen, leader of France's National Front | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty

A senior parliamentary source said top MEPs meeting in Strasbourg this week had decided to suspend grants to the Institute and cut off funds for the Organization for European Interstate Cooperation (OEIC), another Euroskeptic body. It was not immediately possible to verify the claim against the OEIC nor to determine how much money was involved.

A representative for ADDE said Parliament's accusation was baseless, while Farage has described such moves against UKIP and its affiliates as "victimization" of Euroskeptic parties.

In the case of IDDE, which describes itself as a think tank, the Parliament is concerned about how it obtained private donations. In order to qualify for grants from the Parliament, groups and foundations must prove they are able to raise a minimum amount of funding from private sources.

Checks by the Parliament's finance chiefs on IDDE funding "revealed serious concerns about the qualification of the donations as 'own resources' — a criterion that needs to be fulfilled in order to receive funding by the European Parliament," read the document signed by the Parliament's top staffer, Secretary General Klaus Welle.

"It is also doubtful the related expenses paid to the donors or to companies with close links to the donors can be considered eligible expenditure," said the document, which was dated December 5 and titled "Note to the members of the bureau."

The finance department suspects the Institute accepted donations from firms and individuals, only to pay the money back using cash from the Parliament by awarding them contracts that far exceeded the amount they had donated.

In one such example, the document alleged that Kristina Pentti, executive director of the Libera Foundation in Helsinki, had donated €12,000 to IDDE. In 2015, Libera received three payments worth a total of €20,000 from IDDE in order to carry out unspecified work.

The Euroskeptic parties targeted argue that they are being persecuted for practices that are no different from those of more mainstream groups.

Another example mentioned in the document involves a firm called Jalte Holding, which donated €10,000 to IDDE while its director Jorg Altenburg gave €5,000. A web design firm, whose director is Sander van den Broek, donated €5,000. IDDE later awarded a €30,000 contract to a firm called Quid Novi whose director, Eline van den Broek-Altenburg, is listed on Facebook as being the sister of Sander van den Broek and the wife of Jorg Altenburg.

The document said the Parliament was considering bringing the case to the attention of OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud watchdog. It was only suspending payments and not seeking to recover more than €580,000 already paid to the foundation in recent years because of the "risk that it might be impossible to recover the paid amounts due."

The Euroskeptic parties targeted argue that they are being persecuted for practices that are no different from those of more mainstream groups.

Mischaël Modrikamen, vice president of ADDE, said he was not aware of all the details of the probe into the UKIP-related Institute, but added that both the his parliamentary group and the Institute itself planned to appeal Parliament's decisions. There was "no deal" between the Institute and donors to set up a system of kickbacks, and all contracts awarded were approved by Parliament's compliance office, he said.

"There is a desire to liquidate them [Euroskeptic groups], to make them pay for Brexit," Modrikamen said. "But I have never seen such disdain and violation of the rules and total absence of any normal process."

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FierEuropeen

VERY WELL DONE!!! Trash people like this farage are toxic waste in the EP and on anywhere else!
This vomit will not get one more cent from Europe, as the others dejects like le pens and so on!

Posted on 12/13/16 | 8:07 PM CET

Gav

And it was so that democracy died in Europe and the EUSSR was born.

Posted on 12/13/16 | 9:18 PM CET

Fred 53

Jail them

Posted on 12/13/16 | 11:04 PM CET

Theodore

Absolutely right . It is time to fight back against these trash populists which have been abusing the system not only by using EU money for anti EU causes but also to simply pocket it for themselves or their opaque party finances , generally one and the same . Expose these frauds for what they are , force them to pay back and if not sue these bastards . No more concessions no more blind eye . Screw Nigel Garbage , Marine Le Pen and the whole lying bunch of snake oil sellers .

Posted on 12/14/16 | 3:38 AM CET

Dan

@Theodore
You are correct, but your methodology is somewhat lacking in logic. Destroying messengers is pointless, they’ll simply re-emerge with new strategies and their message gets stronger to those who don’t share your content with the state of the EU. Address any legitimate discontent directly and the messengers become redundant. If you feel they have no legitimate grievances or they have no right to express them then carry on. Tyrannical dictators also deal with non-believers this way albeit by wholly more violent means. The result will be the same. Democracy can be bloody inconvenient for the believer.

Pay Thief Farage you are the source of all problems in the European space

Posted on 12/14/16 | 12:45 PM CET

Sieuwke

@ Dan
Your argument is also used by the Mail and the Sun newspapers. ‘They are only the messenger.’ When the message is filled with lies, half truths, it’s fair to say: ‘I’m not sponsoring that!’

Posted on 12/14/16 | 1:00 PM CET

Drakes drum

Ironic that Europe should suddenly wake up to financial irregularities with parties that oppose them. No mention of the eu accounts then? Almost Maoist in their desire to smash the unbelievers , a failing project flailing around in its death throes. Just wait till France and Italy vote to leave. A50 won’t be necessary soon as it falls apart. Eventually socialists run out of other people’s money to spend as Margaret Thatcher once said…. how true that is

Posted on 12/14/16 | 1:09 PM CET

p

Well, the EU parliament rules are not that though. So if you can be acuussed of wrongdoings…it really takes an effort

Posted on 12/14/16 | 1:26 PM CET

Teutonio

Maybe the EP services should check if these EU parties fulfil the most basic conditions of membership (at eu, regional and national level) and transparency

Posted on 12/14/16 | 1:35 PM CET

dusty

these case.s should be heard in an English court that way they could be seen to be fairly judged rather than a persecution

Posted on 12/14/16 | 3:28 PM CET

Maverick

Innocent until proven guilty?

Posted on 12/14/16 | 6:57 PM CET

Dan

@Sieuwke
I don’t read either of those papers so I’ll take your word for it, but if I were faced with an argument that consisted of only lies and half truths I’m fairly confident I’d crush it in pretty short order. I wouldn’t have to resort to lies and half truths to shut them up either 😉

Posted on 12/14/16 | 8:15 PM CET

lingon

Maverick: are you worried that you will lose your UKIP-financed trolling job?

Posted on 12/14/16 | 8:16 PM CET

Granted

@lingon
I think some of us are more concerned that democracy and due process are being sidestepped in a petulant attack on the EU ‘heretics’. These are the actions of your leaders. You should be concerned whether you love, hate or are indifferent toward the EU. Democracy and judicial due process are pre requisites to join the EU, but perhaps not essential to govern it.

Posted on 12/14/16 | 8:41 PM CET

Maverick

@Lingon

I despise UKIP & Farage. I voted REMAIN in the referendum. But since the referendum I have become 100% more aware of the EU and how it operates than I have cared before the referendum. And it has been an eye opener!